These reefs would likely cost in the hundreds of millions of dollars, and if they’re designed like others around the country, they would consist of broad-based mounds of rocks and sand just a few hundred feet offshore.

But would they actually work?

That’s the question before South Carolina’s first statewide flooding commission as it begins its task of finding the best ways to protect the state. Its members already have an abundance of big ideas to sort through — from these reefs to a third massive, man-made interior state lake.

Shell’s recent success in the US Gulf of Mexico includes its deepwater Dover discovery on Mississippi Canyon 612, reported last year, near its Appomattox platform. The well was drilled by the Deepwater Poseidon ultra-deepwater drillship. Sources: Shell, Transocean.

In lieu of the traditional shovel groundbreaking, Miami City Commission chair Ken Russell, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and Miami city manager Emilio T. Gonzalez (pictured l-r) perform the ceremonial water toss to mark the start of the first Miami Forever Bond project tackling flooding and sea-level rise. (Photo by City of Miami Office of Communications)